We Were a Family Once
by EndlessMoonrise
Summary: The lost of a child is devastating, especially when you know they are only just out of your reach... How do you continue to love someone, when all you can do is blame each other?.. A glimpse into the events and the reactions of Ceri and Gerwyn, including and surrounding the time when Rhydian was taken from the wild. (May continue into a multi-chapter story.)
1. Chapter 1

**AN- Hello! I'm back! With an idea I'm not 100% how you guys will take, but I guess we'll see... It's quite Ceri/Gerwyn centred, which I haven't seen before, and I know a lot of people just like to read Maddian, but there's a lot of baby Rhydian too. (And if that doesn't keep you reading, I don't know what will! :') ) Anyway, I'll explain more after the story.**

 **Hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Wolfblood.**

 **Gerwyn's POV.**

I watched on with an amused smirk as Rhydian peered out of the bushes he was hiding in, eyes locked intently on his mother's back as she scrubbed our clothes and blankets in the wooden basin. He took a tentative step forward and the dry earth crunched under his tiny booted feet, Ceri turned her head ever so slightly to the side and he giggled quietly and shrunk back behind the leaves, out of sight.

He caught my eye from between the branches and held a finger to his lips, ordering me to be quiet, and obviously, not wanting to initiate another toddler tantrum, I did what the kid asked and kept shtum. I walked over, sat down beside Ceri, and started to wring the water out of the clothes she'd draped over the side of the wash basin. "Rhydian's stalking you." I told her quietly under my breath.

She smirked and continued to scrub the shirt she was washing. "I know..." I started to turn around, to tell him he'd been caught, but she elbowed me roughly in the ribs. "Don't spoil his fun." She scolded. "And act surprised!"

I frowned. "Why? If we were a rabbit or a pigeon we'd have scarpered half way through the woods by now, he's not exactly the master of stealth, is he?"

Ceri scowled at me. "He's two...ish, Gerwyn... If I remember rightly you were, what? Thirteen before you bagged your first kill."

"I was ten." I corrected her smugly.

She laughed "That rabbit had a gimpy leg, it didn't count, neither did that so called deer you stalked for two hours, you know, the one that turned out to be a bush"

I growled playfully at her and splashed the water at her face, she was never gonna let me live that down! She splashed me back and I wrestled her to the floor and pinned her down. "Gerwyn!" She squealed and struggled against me but I held onto her, nipping her neck playfully with my teeth.

We'd played like this all the time when we were cubs, I guess we still were cubs in a way, since I was only around eighteen or nineteen and she was about a year younger than I was. Pretty damn young.

Yeah, Rhydian was an accident... Neither of us had planned to have a cub so young, I blamed Ceri for coming into season early, she blamed me for not being able to control my wolf urges... But at the end of the day there'd been nothing we could do about it... She gave birth to our little boy six months later and he turned out to be the best accident we ever had, I wouldn't change him for the world.

Ceri continued to struggle so I changed tactics from biting her neck to kissing it... Slowly she surrendered the fight and stayed still. "Cheater." She murmured.

"Naturally." I laughed and trailed my lips up over her jaw and towards her lips...

There was a cute little growl as we were jumped on and Ceri and I knocked noses. "Oww! Rhydian!" We scolded lightly, I sat up rubbing my nose to relieve the pain.

"Daddy! You stole my hunt!" He stood on his stubby little legs and crossed his arms defiantly with that stubborn little pout on his face.

I laughed, knocking him off his feet onto his bum to sit beside us. "No I didn't! I was distracting her for you! Go get her!" The pout turned to a cheeky little smirk and he pushed himself up onto his knees and pounced on her, growling playfully.

Ceri laughed and fell back with him into the grass, letting herself get pinned. "Ahhhh! Daddy help me! The big bad wolf is after me!"

I watched them tussle for a few moments before grabbing his sides and pretending to try and pull him off. "Sorry Mummy, he's just to big and strong for me! Please Mr Wolf, take me instead."

Rhydian snickered and turned to jump on me. "Rawhh!" He shouted and I fell dramatically to the floor as he wrestled with me.

"Can't... go on!" I gasped. "Ceri... Cariad, I love you...Don't ever forget me!"

Ceri was laughing giddily at the pair of us eyes shining with love and excitement as she shuffled towards us. "Perhaps this little wolf has one tiny weakness." She reached over and tickled his sides and he collapsed against me in a fit of giggles

She lifted him up and into her lap before tickling his tummy instead, his most ticklish spot. "No! Mummy!" He laughed. "Stop it!" He curled up into a ball and kicked his tiny legs but without success.

I sat up and grinned at her. "My hero."

She smiled back before nodding over to a second wash basin we'd placed out in the hot summer sun to warm up this morning then back down at Rhydian. I smirked, we were getting real good at this whole sneaky parenting thing, and went over to retrieve it, placing it down in front of her. When Rhydian saw it his little blue eyes widened and he scrambled out of his mother's grip and tried to run, all the while shouting "I don't wanna bath!"

I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and carried him back to the water, dangling him over the top of it. "No!" He squirmed and tried to wriggle out of his shirt before he realised he'd just fall in the water if he tried, after that he clung to my arm tightly and refused to let go. I lowered my arm as if to put him in the tub and he tucked his legs up to avoid the water.

I shook my head and pointed to him with my free hand. "This kid is good." Ceri rolled her eyes, digging out the towels we'd hidden in the trees, the slightest hint of bath equipment and Rhydian ran a mile, getting this boy to bathe was a two wolf job

Ceri moved over to tug his boots off his feet and managed to undress him, how she did it while he was still clung to my arm though was beyond me, must've be a mum thing... Finally I lowered him into the tub and he sat in the bottom dejectedly. "Bath time, little wolf."

He scowled at me but I ignored him and tipped the water over his hair. We washed up as best we could in rivers, but Ceri would only properly bathe him in the summer since she didn't like putting him in cold water, plus Alric's dad was pretty prissy about using so much water.

All of a sudden his little scowl dropped and he motioned me closer I frowned in confusion but leaned closer... He motioned again and I leaned even closer, thinking he wanted to whisper something to me, but he stayed quiet. Finally I turned to look at him full on and he spat a mouthful of water in my face.

He giggled happily and I spluttered and wiped my face with my sleeve. "You little...!"

"Gerwyn!" Ceri cut me off and I huffed and looked away trying not to show just how impressed I really was. Not bad kid, not bad.

I could tell Ceri was trying not to laugh at him, her lips pressed together and her eyes twinkling with mischief, we did after all, have to at least try to be good role models... "Daddy can have a bath after you." She told Rhydian, pushing his blond hair out of his eyes and rubbing the dirt from his forehead with her thumb.

"What!? I'm not going in! He'll probably pee in the water!" Ceri laughed and Rhydian stuck his tongue out at me.

"Mummy says you have to bath! You have to do as she says. Mummy's alpha!" He told me, a smug grin on his face.

"Is not!" I protested.

"She is too!" He and Ceri argued.

I rolled my eyes at them. "You're such a Mummy's boy." I muttered. "Why'd you always pick her side?"

He splashed his hands in the water making it slosh from side to side as he genuinely considered that. "Mummy gives best cuddles." He said decidedly. "Daddy's face is scratchy."

Ceri scoffed, my mouth was already open ready for some witty come back but I closed it and frowned in confusion. 'What?' I mouthed at her.

"You need a shave." She laughed and pressed a hand to my jaw. "I agree with him..."

I scrubbed at my face self consciously. "I'll shave the next time we sneak off the the human world." I murmured, and winked at her, we weren't allowed out there but Ceri and I had been sneaking off since we were fourteen, just into the town or the nearby villages and shops... What could I say? We were curious, and it was an adventure?

We were pretty isolated out here, so we could slip away undetected most of the time, If either of our packs knew we went to the human world, there'd be some serious consequences...

We'd originally come from two different packs, both of which settled in territory within a three mile distance of each other every summer. That three miles were kind of like no man's land for both packs since neither of us wanted to get too close to the other.

I met Ceri for the first time in that three mile gap, little eight year old Ceri had wondered off on her own for the first time and gotten lost, straying dangerously close to our boundaries. I still remembered the first time I saw her, she stood in the woods, tears in her frightened yellow eyes as she turned in hectic circles, trying to figure out where she was. Her hair was in two long pigtails down her back and she clutched a heavy branch in her hands as if for protection.

Me, well I decided, being the kind, thoughtful nine year old that I was, that I was more than qualified to take her home safely, that and I thought she was real pretty, so I ran over to greet her, and she'd whacked me over the head with her branch.

She told me she wasn't supposed to speak to my pack, I'd grumbled at my sore head, called her a scaredy cub and dared her to spend the day with me anyway, and being the stubborn kid she was, she accepted the challenge. Finally I escorted her back towards her packs territory... And got us even more lost than she'd been in the first place... Another thing she'd never let me live down...

We wondered around all evening until it started to get dark, I'd held her hand as she cried and reassured her that we'd be alright, we spent the night in some cave in the middle of no where, and I'd told her stories about how we'd be alright, how we could make our own little pack until our parents found us, as long as we stuck together we'd be fine.

Of course they'd found us come the next sunrise, even though it had felt like weeks to us, we were asleep and curled up together in the cave trying to keep warm. Our mums were on better terms after that, since they had teamed up to try and find us, even if the pack alphas still hated each other.

Our mums marked out a trail for us through the woods after that, so we could visit each other in between territories, she was the first kid I'd known that was so close to my own age so I enjoyed her company and by the time that first summer came to a close we were best friends. Still, it was too cold for the packs to stay here during the winter months, and inevitably we were split up, but not before I promised to meet her back here next summer.

We carried on like that throughout the years, we built our own den there by the river, and those three miles became _our_ territory every summer. As we grew older we spent more and more time there, just the two of us... And I fell in love with her more and more each day.

Some of our pack members didn't like us being together, and our alphas certainly weren't pleased, but our parents were more or less fine with it, especially seeing just how much we loved each other, and mine were particularly fond of Ceri anyway.

Still getting her pregnant so young didn't go down so well on either side...

It wasn't until Ceri had Rhydian that our packs became more accepting of each other, I could walk through Ceri's territory unhindered and she though mine. That was also the first winter we spent together, Ceri and Rhydian came to stay with us, my parents were the beta wolves in the pack so managed to pull a few strings, they loved their grandson too much to say no... But then again who could say no to those bright blue eyes!

It was summer now, and we were back to living in our own little territory, between the two packs. Our own little pack just like I'd told Ceri all those years ago... Our own little family. We took Rhydian between the two, he had a little red headed friend in Ceri's pack, Jana I think her name was, and he loved his grandparents to bits, but we preferred it out here, we got less disapproving looks that way...

"Daddy's bath time!" Rhydian called, breaking me from my musings. Ceri was rubbing his hair dry with the towel.

She left the towel on top of him and gasped in mock shock. "Where's my beautiful boy gone? He's disappeared!"

Rhydian giggled and threw the towel up over his head. "Boo!" He shouted and I watched in amusement as Ceri pretended he'd scared her.

"There he is!" She cried happily. "I didn't recognise you! All squeaky clean!" She cooed and hugged him tightly.

"Squeaky clean!" Rhydian giggled and wrapped his little arms around her neck.

Yeah, he definitely was the best mistake I'd ever made...

* * *

"Daddy! Wake up!" I groaned as his boney little knees dug into my stomach as he climbed on top of me. "Mummy's pack today! I play with Jana! And see mama and gand- ad." He bounced up and down on top of me tugging at my shirt, trying to wake me up. I rolled onto my stomach and he fell off me and onto the floor. Still, it didn't put him off long, he sat up, unfazed and patted my face excitedly with his hands. "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!" He growled at me, jumped on my head, biting my ear hard with his little teeth.

"Oww! Alright! I'm up!" He jumped up and toddled quickly out of the den and I followed him groggily, how he had this much energy every morning was beyond me. I walked over and wrapped my arms around Ceri's waist from behind, watching her cut up the last of our meat for breakfast. "Why'd you set the kid on me?" I grumbled.

She laughed quietly. "Because you don't get up for me."

"I wake up for morning kisses, you know that..." I leaned down to press my lips to her neck and she batted me away playfully.

"Yeah, then morning kisses turn into morning cuddles, then morning cuddles turn into things I don't want a certain little cub to walk in on, since daddy can't keep his hands to himself for five minutes..." She grabbed my hands and pulled them out from under her shirt.

I huffed. "Why did we have to become such responsible parents?"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You? Responsible?!"

I frowned at her. "Ceri, why did you have to become such a responsible parent!?" I corrected.

She laughed and turned in my arms to face me, wrapping her arms around my neck. I nuzzled the side of her face and and leaned in to kiss her lightly. "I love you, even though you're far too responsible and don't let me have fun anymore."

She hummed softly and nudged her nose with mine. "I love you too. Even though you're an idiot."

"Well, thank god for that!" I kissed her again, longer this time until hands tugged at my shirt, unfortunately for me, they weren't Ceri's.

"Stop dis...dis-ter-acting mummy! I'm hungry!"

I groaned and picked him up, balancing him on my hip. "Just wait until you find your mate, I'll keep interrupting you when your kissing her, and we'll see how much you like it."

He screwed his little nose up and shook his head. "Yuck!" I laughed and bounced him on my hip as his eyes zeroed in on the food. "Meat, meat, meat." He ordered, making grabby hands at the bowl, Ceri cut a bit off for him to chew on and he took it in his tiny fist. I made my own grabby hands at the bowl and Ceri rolled her eyes at me before popping a bigger piece in my mouth and taking some for herself.

Once I'd finished I looked back at the bowl and frowned. "Looks like we need to hunt tonight." Ceri nodded in agreement. "What do you want little wolf? Pheasant? Wood pigeon?"

"Rabbit!" He said excitedly through a mouthful of food.

I laughed. "Good choice. No wings for your old dad to contend with." I held my hand up for a high five and he slapped his little hand against mine.

"Come on." Ceri laughed fondly. "They'll be expecting us soon, we can finish breakfast on the way."

I hoisted Rhydian up onto my shoulders and we set off, running through the forest towards Ceri's pack.

* * *

It was only three hours later that I carried the sleeping Rhydian in my arms on the way back home, his head curled up against my neck. He'd been running around with Jana all day, playing at being wolves, and worn himself out. We'd had a bit of a hairy moment when he'd pushed Jana over, making her skin her knees and Alric had kicked off, that of course meant things got heated between the two of us and Ceri had made Rhydian apologise before marching the two of us off.

"Just because she's third in line for alpha doesn't make her this fragile little princess... They're kids, they bounce, if Alric keeps her sheltered all her life how will she learn to defend herself?"

"It's not our place to say, so just keep your muzzle out of it! There was no need to wolf out the way you did!" She scolded.

"He's the one that was growling at a little kid, all Rhydian did was give her a shove." I defended, rolling my eyes. "If your parents kicked off every time I pushed you over as a cub, we certainly wouldn't be here now."

I placed Rhydian down in the den and covered him over with his blanket, he shuffled slightly before curling up in the furs and settling back down. I licked my thumb and rubbed some dirt from his cheek before climbing out and back over to Ceri. "He's out like a light."

"I don't want him sleeping too long, otherwise he'll be up through the night, you know what he's like." She told me, sitting cross legged and cleaning our dishes from this morning in the wash basin.

I pulled her hands away from the washing and pulled her against my chest. "I'll do that later..." I promised, and I tilted her head up to kiss her.

"Gerwyn." She sighed half heartedly, but she didn't put up a fight for long, kissing me back.

I pushed her down onto the grass bank. "Come on, Cariad. The little tyke's asleep and we haven't had any alone time for weeks."

She scoffed against my lips. "Welcome to parenthood." She reached up and pulled me closer.

I rolled my eyes and kissed down her neck gently. "I think there's still a bit of teenager left in us yet..." I trailed off and paused before sitting up and sniffing the air, my eyes widened. "Do you smell that?..." I turned my head and sniffed again. "Deer..."

Ceri shoved me off her, exasperated. "I swear there's only two parts of your body you think with, just a shame neither one of them is your head."

"It is deer, and not far from here!" I said excitedly. Deer were a rare catch even in the best of conditions. "Come on Ceri! Let's go get it!" I jumped up and crouched, handing myself over to my instincts and using Eolas to locate it. It was stood lapping up river water about a quarter of a mile away "It's down by the river." I told her finally and grabbed her hand.

"Rhydian..." She reminded me but I brushed her off.

"He's asleep and hidden in the den. Anyway, we'll be back in no time." She looked back towards the den so I grabbed her other hand and tugged her down the bank. "Come on, I need my back up girl!"

"Your back up girl?" She laughed and paused for a second before she took off in a sprint towards the river. "I think you'll find you're my wing man!" She jumped lithely into the air and took her wolf form. I growled at her playfully and followed suit...

 **Third Person POV**

Rhydian startled awake when lots of flapping wings echoed around the den. He growled at the noise and sat up, rubbing his eyes with his little fists as he yawned. He kicked his feet out of the fur, looking around for mummy and daddy, but they weren't in here with him.

He pushed himself up and wobbled as he stood, since his legs were still really tired from running with Jana all day, he toddled out into the sunshine and screwed his eyes shut against the bright light, he didn't like it when the light hurt his eyes.

Mummy and daddy weren't out here either so Rhydian figured they must have gone to look for meat for dinner. He ran back into the den and sat cross legged on his blanket, mummy always said. 'Stay in the den' when they went hunting, and mummy knew if he didn't cause she used her special wolf powers to check on him.

The flapping sound started again, making Rhydian jump and he looked up to find a pigeon fluttering over his head. He growled at it. "Bad pigeon!" He scolded. "This my house! Get out!" The pigeon ignored him and Rhydian backed up into the corner away from it. He watched as it gave up fluttering and landed on the floor on top of his blanket. "No! That mine! Mummy just clean it!"

Rhydian pounced after the bird and it flapped its wings, landing again a few feet outside the den. He smirked and giggled because the bird waddled funny, before crouching and pouncing at it again, Rhydian was a good pouncer and he was gonna be a good hunter like daddy when he grew up... Perhaps he could help daddy now? He'd be very proud if Rhydian found some food too, he'd be a big wolf, just like him!

Rhydian chased the pigeon off the campsite, and followed it deeper into the woods, but the pigeon was fast, and it could fly. Finally it took off and Rhydian pounced one last time, but his feet didn't land where he thought they would, he lost his footing and tumbled down the steep bank head first.

Rhydian fell down a lot, so he was used to it, he'd learnt that even if it sometimes hurt, if he just stood up and kept on playing he forgot about it. This time though, all his skin stung all over, and as he tried to climb out of the leaves he'd fallen in, every time he touched them his hands burned more and more.

It took him a few seconds to stutter in a breath but after a few seconds he found his voice. "Mummy!" He wailed, big, fat, salty tears streaming down his cheeks. "Mummy!"

He heard hurried footsteps and pawsteps and for a moment he thought mummy and daddy had come to the rescue, but when he looked up he saw a lady he'd never seen before, she smelt wired, like the people he saw when mummy and daddy took him to the place with the strange dens and the lights and the noisy thingys.

She had two big wolves with her... well, he thought they were wolves... They looked weird, they were really tall and had big floppy ears but weren't as furry as mummy and daddy.

"Oh! You poor little thing!" She rushed over and reached out for him, Rhydian held out his arms, just desperate to get out of the stingy leaves, and she grabbed him, pulling him onto the dirt track.

She held him tightly and rocked him to try and calm him down but the stinging didn't go away. "Hello! Anyone?!" She called, turning frantically to see if she could see the little boy's parents. "Sweetheart, where's your mummy?" She asked him but Rhydian didn't understand the lady's words.

He sobbed and blubbered incoherently and the lady sighed. "Oh, honey I don't speak Welsh."

She bounced him for a few moments as he cried, looking around for any sign of another person. Rhydian rubbed at his arms, trying to rub the stingy feeling away. The lady placed him down gently by the funny wolves and looked towards the bushes and the nasty leaves. "Stay there, I'll get you some docking leaves for you arms." She told him, but Rhydian still didn't understand her words.

The wolves sniffed at his clothes and his hair and Rhydian sniffed them back, they didn't smell the same as mummy and daddy and the other wolves either... Rhydian inspected their ears and turned his head to the side in confusion. They kept sniffing and sniffing and he didn't like them getting so close, their heads were really heavy. He growled at them and they backed off a little. "Sit!" He told them and pointed to the floor.

The wolves shifted on their haunches and sat down in front of him. Rhydain smiled slightly and patted their muzzles gently, one of the wolves big sloppy tongues licked his face, and he giggled quietly through his tears.

The lady laughed at the little boy with her dogs, most kids were scared since they were so big. Great Danes, tended to get that reaction. She picked him back up and rubbed some leaves on his arms which made them feel better. "Come on, I'll take you to the police station, you should fit in Sean's car seat." She began to walk with him in her arms, and the wolves followed beside her... Rhydain wondered why they didn't turn back into people...

They reached a big shiny thing and the lady put Rhydian inside it in a strange chair and tied him in, he squirmed in discomfort but the chair held him in place. He whimpered when the the big shiny thing he was in made strange noises and started moving and tugged on the things she'd tied him in with. The trees were disappearing and he needed to go back to the den before mummy found out he'd wandered off.

"No!" He shouted at the lady. "Mummy! Daddy!"

"Shhh, you're alright." The lady soothed, but Rhydian ignored her.

He cried and watched as the trees disappeared completely and just as they turned the corner he saw his mummy running out of the trees with daddy beside her... Then they disappeared...

 **AN- Okay, who else just wants to wrap baby Rhydian up in their arms? I know I do!**

 **The progression of this is entirely up to you! I could leave it as a one shot, but I for one am really intrigued by Ceri and Gerwyn's relationship, I originally planned making this a multiple chapter story or a series of connected oneshots, I'd cover their reaction to losing Rhydian and the break down of their relationship, up to Gerwyn leaving and Ceri finding out she's pregnant again, then if your still not sick of me, I might write Ceri going to find Rhydian, and meeting Gerwyn again and rekindling their relationship at the end of series three.**

 **That said, I need to know I have an audience! Let me know if your interested in a Ceri/Gerwyn story!**

 **Please review!**

 **-EndlessMoonrise X**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN- I'm back! I was actually really surprised by the amount of lovely reviews I got, turns out baby Rhydian stole all of our hearts! Which is why I'm considering slotting in little snippets of his life before Stoneybridge, let me know if that's something** **you'd like. Anyway, I had to lock my heart away writing this so... you have been warned...**

 **Disclaimer- I do not own Wolfblood.**

 **Ceri's POV**

"Admit it!" Gerwyn dragged our kill through the forest, looking positively jovial. "Go on! Admit it, I dare you!"

I laughed at that trademark phrase. 'I dare you' It had been one of the first things he'd ever said to me, and he'd used it against me ever since. He knew I could never turn down a challenge. He gave me that cheeky smirk I loved and I rolled my eyes. "You were _amazing_!" I gushed sarcastically. "The most powerful, stealthy wolf I've ever seen and I'd never have been able to take the buck alone!"

His eyes twinkled with mischief and he leaned in the kiss my cheek. "Don't forget handsome."

I scoffed and pinched his cheek playfully. "I prefer my men with significantly less facial hair."

He laughed. "Good luck finding one of those round here."

"Perhaps that's my problem?" I mused teasingly. "I settled down too early, with the first wolf I saw... Perhaps I should look further afield..."

He growled playfully and me and dropped the buck, scooping me up instead. "Mine!"

"Gerwyn Morris! Your hands are filthy!" I scolded, and tried to wriggle of his arms. Blood stains were near on impossible to get out of our clothes

He threw me over his shoulder. "The mother voice doesn't work on me!" He scoffed. "You'll be sending me to bed without meat next."

I glared at his back. "Put. Me. Down."

"Or you'll what?" He goaded.

I brought my knee back and drove it into his gut. He doubled over with a groan and placed my feet back on the floor. I grinned and carried on walking. "Well done Mr powerful, stealthy wolf, you held me captive for all of five seconds." He bared his teeth at me and growled before picking the buck back up and dragging it by its antlers... They'd make for some useful tools... My mind soon wondered, daydreaming of how I could use the buck, that pelt would be priceless come the winter months...

We eventually made our way back to the den and I ducked inside to check on Rhydian...

I froze...

Standing in the entrance and looking down at the bundle of blankets that were supposed to be wrapped around my son... "Gerwyn..." My voice was barely there... My heart was pounding heavily in my chest... I breathed in a ragged breath so I could call him again and spun around onto the campsite. "Gerwyn!" He looked up from the buck, frowning at the tone of my voice. I shook my head in disbelief. "He's gone..."

I could see the worry settle in his eyes and he looked around at the surrounding forest. "...He's probably just wandered off... Rhydian!" He called.

I kept shaking my head, it was a valid point, but something told me this was more than him just exploring... "He knows not to leave then den while we hunt..."

Gerwyn knelt down, touching his fingers to the ground and looking up as he opened up his instincts to Eolas... When he brought himself back he shook his head. "I can't see him... He must be too close to the human trail... Rhydian!" I whimpered quietly and Gerwyn placed a hand on my shoulder. "We'll find him Ceri..."

I shrugged him off and sniffed the air around the den before tracking his scent, it took us deeper into the woods before falling rapidly down the bank and onto the human trail... I looked around warily for a moment, desperate for any sign of my little boy. "Rhydian!" My voice broke as his name turned into more of a sob.

I was starting to pick up other scents now, human, dog, but they all mixed and morphed together so I couldn't figure them out, that was when I heard the rumble of one of those big metal human machines... My eyes widened as things started to piece together in my mind and I sprinted towards the noise. I was vaguely aware of Gerwyn shouting my name, but I ignored him, I needed to find my son before they took him away!

My every step felt as though it was in slow motion and the sound of the machine got further and further away. I pushed myself faster, ducking under branches and jumping over tree roots, but it wasn't enough...

I broke through the trees onto the dirt track road just in time to hear Rhydian cry 'Mummy!' And see his little face through the glass, blotchy with tears, before the machine turned the corner and he disappeared...

"No!" I whimpered and let my wolf take hold, I had to go after him! I had to get him back no matter what it took even, if that meant exposing myself...

Hands gripped my shoulders and my waist and Gerwyn tugged me back into the trees. "Ceri! You can't!"

"No! That's my son!" I sobbed, struggling against his hold. "My baby! Let me go!"

"Ceri, shhh." He pulled me against his chest and I tried to push him away but he held on tight, finally I collapsed against him, trying to draw in breath through my tears, I couldn't breathe! "We'll get him back... I promise you."

"How! How can we possibly get him back!" I gasped. "He's gone!"

He lowered us to the floor at the side of the road, holding me in his lap and pressing his nose against my hair. I don't know how long we sat there, but all I could do was cry. I felt weak, as if all the energy had been drained out of me. I didn't want to move, talk, anything, I just wanted to disappear...

 **Gerwyn's POV**

I held her tightly against my chest and rocked her, trying to get her breathing evened out. I hated that I had to hold her back, especially when I wanted exactly the same thing she did, but now wasn't the time for hasty decisions, if we were to have any chance of getting him back, we had to think it through... Running after them in wolf form wasn't the answer, and I'm sure deep down she knew that too.

"We'll find him." I kept saying this over and over to try and reassure the both of us but I knew that now they had him, it just wouldn't be that simple.

I lowered us to the floor, my legs unable to support us anymore I'd lost my son, our son... I hid my face against Ceri's hair as the first few tears welled in my eyes and spilled over...

I felt numb, I didn't know what to think... What to feel... I just sat there, cradling Ceri in my lap, holding on to the last bit of normality I had left...

I let her cry herself out until the moon rose and she went limp in my arms, emotionally exhausted. I hadn't let myself shed more than those first few tears, I knew I had to stay strong, for Ceri, for Rhydian...

As I stood, I lifted her with me, carrying her away from the side of the road and back into the surrounding woods...

I took her back to the den and lay her down in the furs and blankets, her fingers curled around Rhydian's comforter and she sobbed quietly, clutching it against her chest. I tried to stay with her, I really did, but the tears threatened once again and I finally had to step outside, I couldn't let her know that I felt just as hopeless as she did... I sunk down against our doorway, letting the tears well over...

I felt more than hopeless. I felt useless...

* * *

 **Third person POV.**

The strange lady stopped the big machine outside a big rock den and came to get him, but Rhydian didn't want her to touch him. He'd screamed for mummy and daddy until his voice hurt but the lady had ignored him, she's taken him away and now mummy was going to be really cross that he hadn't stayed in the den the way she'd told him to.

Rhydian thrashed and kicked to keep her away and tugged on the straps around his shoulders, he didn't like the strange seat, it stopped him moving and closed him in.

"Shhhhh." The lady tried to sooth and reached towards him. "I'm going to unbuckle you..." Rhydian cried because he still didn't understand her words but then she reached even closer...

Rhydian panicked and bit down hard with his teeth against the lady's wrist. She cried out in pain and skirted back out of his reach. He growled at her the way he'd seen daddy do and she backed away before disappearing into the rock den.

He tugged some more and chewed on the straps to try and break them but he couldn't. He sobbed and cried out for mummy and daddy again but they didn't come to get him, even with the lady gone.

"Hey! Hey! You'll hurt your little teeth doing that!" Rhydian froze because those were words he knew, they were words mummy and daddy used. There was a different lady this time, dressed in funny clothes. She smiled softly at him, but Rhydian didn't feel safe in the big machine anymore. "Out! Out! Out!" He demanded rocking and wriggling in his seat.

"Okay." The lady said softly, Rhydian watched as the she pressed a red square next to his tummy and the straps let go. He squirmed his way out of the seat but the lady blocked his way so he turned around to find another way out. There was a hole in the machine on the other side so Rhydian ran towards it but when he got there he hit his head against something hard and fell over. "Careful!" The lady said and climbed in

Rhydian whimpered and rubbed his head to stop it hurting, before touching his fingers to the hole, it was covered with a hard sheet which he didn't understand since he could see the outside, but couldn't get to it. Rhydian sniffed as other funny smelling people surrounded the machine and climbed down into the gap on the floor by the lady's feet, hiding. "What's your name?" She asked.

Rhydian hesitated, even though this lady's words made sense he still wasn't sure. "I want mummy..." He whimpered quietly.

"Tell you what." She said quietly. "You tell me your name and we'll try to find your mummy together, sound good?" Rhydian nodded. If this lady was going to take him home, that meant she was good.

"Rhydian..." He murmured.

"Do you have two names Rhydian? A last name?" Rhydian frowned in confusion and the lady sighed, thoughtful, before smiling. "When you're naughty what does mummy say?"

Rhydian tilted his head to the side, thinking... "She say..." Rhydian got to his feet and put a hand on his hip and pointed his finger like mummy did. "Rhydian Morris! Don you dare!"

The lady laughed and Rhydian giggled but then he saw the other people outside and he shuffled back down into his hiding place. "Where is mummy, Rhydian?."

Rhydian tried to explain that mummy was in the trees at home but even the lady with the right words didn't seem to understand. She kept turning to the people outside the machine then back to him. He kept pointing to the lone tree that he could see outside the machine, incase the lady didn't know what they were. "Lotsa trees, lotsa big trees."

"You got lost in the woods, but where's your house? Where do you live?" She kept asking him, but Rhydian didn't know what a 'house' was.

He got more and more frustrated that the lady didn't understand him that he beat his fists on his legs. "Rhydian have nap and when wake up mummy gone in the trees." He said, louder this time.

The lady frowned and turned to the people outside the machine, using words Rhydian didn't know again. "He just keeps say he was in the trees… the woods… That his mum went into the trees… do you think... I mean it sounds like... she just… walked away… abandoned him there."

* * *

 **Gerwyn's POV.**

I opened my eyes as I heard Ceri climb out of the den, I don't think either of us had slept at all last night, I could see from here that her eyes were bloodshot from crying. She didn't look back at me, just started off walking towards the east, Rhydian's blanket still clutched in her hand.

I stood and went after her, grabbing her free hand as soon as she was within reach. "Cariad... Where are you going?" She tried to shrug me off and pull away but I didn't let her. "Ceri!"

"I can't stay here!" She shouted. "I can't... Be here anymore..." Tears rolled down over her cheeks. "I want my mum!"

I paused, a little lost for words... We'd grown up a lot when we had Rhydian, so sometimes I forgot just how young we were... Every time Ceri cried for her mum when we were cubs, I'd run to get her, like that time she broke her arm after I dared her to climb the dead oak tree, so we could see the human lights... I shook my head. "We can't tell our parents yet... Ceri you want to go out and look for him, don't you? You know the packs would never let us go to the human world!"

She screwed her eyes shut, gasping in a shaky breath and pulling her hand out of my grip. "Then we go now! I can't stand this anymore!"

I reached for her hand but she just lifted it away from me and turned, walking towards the human paths... So I followed her silently.

We entered the town the same way we had so many times before, but this time Ceri was tense and guarded, watching every human that passed with narrowed eyes. I glanced down to find her hands streaked with wolf veins and ended up having to forcibly take them. "Cariad, calm down, otherwise they'll notice..."

She growled at me under her breath, so I continued to watch her from the corner of my eye, this wasn't like her at all... If she was this close to wolfing out, we couldn't be here, it'd put us all in danger...

We searched through town, trying to pick up his scent, or the human scent from the woods. The woman who found him couldn't have lived too far away surely... I kept a tight hold on Ceri's hand, not quite trusting her to be alone right now. She didn't speak to me, she seemed solely focused on finding his scent, which was fine until to took into consideration that she wasn't even trying to look human. She was crouching and sniffing, loud enough that we started to get some funny looks from passers by, so I pulled her up straight.

She batted my hands and pushed me away. "Stop it!" She growled. "Leave me alone!" She sprinted off and I ran after her, only I didn't have to run far, she'd paused outside a small... Shop, I think they're called, paper in hand. On the front, clear as day, was a picture of Rhydian, his frightened blue eyes looking up at us. Big letters were printed above his head and lots of little letters were printed below him, Ceri turned to me quickly. "What does it say?!"

I took the paper from her touching Rhydian's picture with the tips of my fingers. "I don't know Ceri, I can't read either."

"Then find someone that does!" She sobbed.

"Calm down!" I ordered again. "I can't just ask someone to read it! Everyone out here can read, we can't draw attention to ourselves by saying we can't!"

She tried to pull it off me again. "I don't care anymore! He's my son! I have to get him back!"

"Excuse me?" Someone called, breaking our scuffle, and I turned to find a middle aged man in the shop doorway. "Are you going to pay for that?" He asked, nodding down to the paper in my hands. Ceri and I looked between one another, Ceri was the one most fluent in English, her pack had more English members than mine did... She'd been the one who taught me, so automatically I left her to answer the question, but when she didn't answer him I was forced to step up.

"Ermmm... We don't have anything to pay you with..." I remembered vaguely that humans exchanged metal disks for things, but I didn't know what they were called or how to get them.

He walked forward, hand held out expectantly. "Well, if you can't pay for it, I'll be having it back."

Ceri growled lowly and I nudged her with my elbow, pleading with her to be quiet. The man reached out to take the paper from me and Ceri growled louder at him, baring her teeth. He looked startled to I shoved it into his chest and grabbed Ceri's hand to pull her away. She snarled at me and yanked her arm out of my hold before clawing at the paper in his hand, I grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up, desperate to get her out of here. The paper ripped and Ceri held her section in a tight fist. "Get her out of here." The man shouted.

"I'm sorry." I called back but he'd already pulled the stack of papers inside and slammed the door to his shop closed.

I could her him muttering under his breath. "Crazy, filthy kids." And listened to try and hear if he'd seen anything he shouldn't have before turning the corner.

I pulled Ceri down into a quiet back street and she sat down on the rock path, smoothing out the paper she'd managed to grab. The picture of Rhydian was still there, along with the big letters, it was only the small letters that were torn in half. "What we're you thinking!?" I demanded. "You could of exposed us!"

She ignored me touching the picture of Rhydian gently with the tips of her fingers, tears welling in her eyes again. "I'm so sorry..." She sobbed. "I'm sorry I wasn't a proper mother."

"...Ceri..." I didn't know what to say to her...I hated that she blamed herself, because the whole thing was entirely my fault, I knew that already… It was me that suggested we go hunting, me that told her to leave him in the den... So I didn't say anything, just sat down on the opposite side of the street, my head in my hands.

...

I wasn't sure how long we sat there, it could have been minutes or hours but the scent of two other Wolfbloods came from down wind. I stood and moved towards Ceri, standing in front of her. I hadn't realised until now that the street was a dead end, we were trapped.

A middle aged couple rounded the corner less than a minute later, their eyes turning yellow as they locked there gaze on us. "So it's you two who have been trespassing on our territory? All this time." The male snarled. My own wolf tried to surface in response to the threat, and even though I'm sure my eyes had already turned, I tried to control myself, which for some reason was a lot harder than usual.

"I'm sorry, we weren't aware that the territory had been claimed." We'd never really stayed long enough to find out...

He moved closer sniffing at our necks and I forced myself to submit. "You've been wandering into our territory for years..."

"Just visiting." I reassured quickly. "We live in the wild, you see, just wanted to see what the human world is like... We were cubs, and we were curious..." I added, hoping they'd cut us some slack.

"You're still cubs." He muttered. "I want you gone, within the hour, and I don't want you coming back."

"No!" Ceri protested and he growled at her, I pushed her further behind me and growled back at him baring my teeth, defending my mate. It took everything in me not to go for his throat, I was about to do just that, but managed to clear the fog from my mind... I could sense even without seeing his wolf, that this wasn't a fight I could win.

"We're going!" I grit through my teeth. "Ceri come on!" I pulled her with me, and managed to get past the other two wolves before she began struggling again.

"No!" She reached back with her free hand. "Gerwyn! Stop!" I did just that since it wasn't anger in her voice this time, she was sobbing.

I looked back to find the paper lying on the floor where she'd left it, I composed myself, trying to take a deep breath and calm my wolf. "Can we have that back?" I pleaded.

He looked back warily and frowned. "It's a ripped piece of newspaper." Ceri and I growled at him. That was my son!

The haze lasted only a few seconds before I managed to snap myself out of it. I shook my head, feeling dizzy. "Sorry... Please..." I begged, looking back at the picture.

The female watched us closely before stepping back from her mate and retrieving the newspaper. "The pair of you... You both have the Morwal in you." She said quietly, speaking for the first time. "I recognise the scent... And your wolf eyes... One is different from the other..." I froze... The Morwal, I'd heard stories, even seen someone with one a few years back, but until now I hadn't even considered that Ceri and I were going to pick it up... That said, it explained Ceri's short temper, and my inability to control myself the way I usually could...

The woman looked down at the paper and back up at us. "You know the little boy..." Her eyes scanned the words. "Rhydian..."

"He's our son..." My voice broke. Their eyes widened, obviously because we looked too young to have a two year old of our own. The female lifted her hand to her mouth in shock before gently handing the paper back to me, I stared down at the words which still just looked like a jumble of lines. "Can you read it to us?" I asked her.

"You can't read?" The male scoffed and I tensed, baring my teeth and fighting against my wolf... The Morwal... I just didn't know anymore...

"No." I said finally. "In the wild, we don't normally need to."

The woman placed a hand on her mates chest and looked at us, pity in her gaze. "It says. 'Child abandoned in the wild." She said quietly.

We all stood in silence for a few moments until Ceri shook her head. "I didn't abandon him." She whimpered. "I didn't abandon him! They took him away!" She cried.

"Ceri..." I tried to hold her in my arms but she struggled away from me, eyes bright, I realised what the woman meant then, one wolf eye was Ceri's, the other... The pupil was dilated, only a thin band of yellow before it darkened back to black around the iris.

I realised with a start that mine would be exactly the same...

Ceri locked those eyes on the other pair of Wolfbloods and growled at them. "How can you even bare to live here? Live among and act like _them_? Tame!" The male stood in front of his mate protectively and I moved closer to mine. "How can you possibly _want_ to act human, when they're capable of taking a baby from his mother! He was mine! They stole him!" She sneered and took a step forward.

The male stood his ground, snarling at her and I was about intervene when Ceri shoved him backwards, making the female growl at her, defending him.

All four of us were at a stand off, circling one another, and I tried to pull Ceri behind me but she snarled and turned on me instead. That foggy haze returned even thicker than before and I snarled back at her, lunging forward, working purely on instinct. My muscles were coiled, ready to fight and I was about to let the wolf take over when...

"Hey!" I blinked the fog from my mind once again and stood, looking across to see Ceri looking just as dazed as I felt. The other couple stood off to the right, watching us with equal amounts of shock and wariness. "Both of you need to get out of the village now! Away from humans! The Morwal is making the wolf too strong for either of you!" The female said. "...Look... We'll try to help."

"Rach-" The male started but she cut him off.

"They've just lost their son!" She hissed at him. "What if it was our Charlie?!" He looked away, so she continued. "You'll have to come back after full moon... You're too dangerous...to us, to yourselves..."

I didn't argue with her, I'd just turned on my mate without even stopping to think about what I was doing...

I rubbed at my neck trying to release the clenched muscles there, before herding Ceri out an back towards the woods, I didn't dare touch her, as out of control as I felt...

The tame wolves would know more about this world than we did... We'd figure something out after full moon... We had to...

 **AN- Ohhh... Double Morwal, I'm not sure whether or not to look forward or be nervous about writing that... it's gonna be intense but hopefully good to read. I'm not sure how often this story will be updated, since I'm finding it's a bit of a challenge, writing something from scratch rather than basing it on episodes, and I'd still like to write some more Maddian (Gotta love Maddian!), so I might post some one shots between chapters, we'll see.**

 **Please Review!**

 **-EndlessMoonrise X**


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